painting skidplate

any suggestions on painting the skidplate? I've never painted aluminum before, and don't want it to come off in the wind. i know it will get banged up from some of the stuff i do (already has some nice scrapes on the bottom), but my airbrush is collecting dust. i was thinking of sandblasting to rough it up some, with real fine garnet, but not sure if that's the right thing or not. now that i can post pics, i'll post it once i'm done, if i can find a way to do it right.

I'm not a body guy or pro painter but I would think that if you cleaned it up real good and applied a good primer the paint will hold well. I painted a few engine pieces a couple years ago with some "engine paint" which has ceramic in it and resists high temps. It has held up very well.
just a suggestion!

thanks, i think the cleaning part will be key. i used that engine paint on the cooling tin for my 72 kharmann ghia, it held up well. hope the guy driving it now appreciates it. i painted the ghia myself, and was surprised with how it came out. i won't quit my day job, but at least I know i have some ability to do it right.

So what is your day job, Shortbus? You seem to be very mechanically inclined, seem to know a lot about you H2, and do a lot of work on it yourself.

i'm in the RF engineering dept. for cingular. i've never gotten into the radio thing outside of work, and find other areas to spend my time in. i learned a lot rebuilding the ghia, and try to put that to use when i can. spent a lot of time making sure my old 4runner held up when i took it offroad, so that helped as well. i painted that skid plate, airbrushed some flames on it. didn't look all that great, but being bright yellow on a dark blue truck made it stand out. i try to learn as much as i can from as many sources as possible, the techs at the local dealer groan when they see me, i tend to follow them around asking questions. since i have a desk job these days, i also get to spend time here and learn stuff.

sometimes aluminum items are coated..like aluminum wheels, and to get paint to stick, you have to sand that coating off first

i know it's coated, looks like some sort of plastic film. i tore some of it off slamming into the ground, so that's why i was wondering what sandblasting would do to aluminum. seems easier than sanding it, and don't feel like dragging it along the ground anymore than i have to.


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i had a set of wheels on my old track car that were aluminum, and i wanted to shine them up...and i used steel wool..it was alot of work, but it got the job done

most newer AL items are either coated in a thin layer or plastic, or clear coated...i think that you could sandblast it if you were Very careful...

do you have an angle grinding wheel? or even a rough scuffing pad on a drill?

i've got the scotchbrite pads for the air grinder/drill/whatever the heck that thing is. i've got some really fine garnet for the sandblaster that my wife uses in her stained glass stuff, so i won't be hitting it with rocks if i go that route i'm wondering now whether or not this thing will fit in the cabinet of the blaster or not oh well, i'll figure something out, and post the results when i'm done or have purchased a new one . . .

i think that the scotchbrite pads would work...in my experiences, those things would practically take the stink off a skunk..

The skidplate can be polished t a chrome shine .

I did mine looks great

Contact David 407 468 8866

i wasn't looking for shine, but i got it all figured out. a bit blurry, but at least it's not shiny anymore


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Hey BUS!... if you really want to do it right... take it of have it bead blased and powder coated... you'll love it and it wont cost as much as you might think.
Plus you can get a better match on the color.

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ORIGINAL: flexline

Hey BUS!... if you really want to do it right... take it of have it bead blased and powder coated... you'll love it and it wont cost as much as you might think.
Plus you can get a better match on the color.

it's not worth the cost when it's just going to get scraped off anyway from boulders. then i can always rattlecan it again if i want.

shortbus....so how did you do this?
 
I took the skid plate off ours and was going to paint it with RUST-OLEUM (Black) but now I am not so sure that would work. I would love to get it powder-coated but I am not sure I want to spend a lot to do it, nor do I know a powder-coater.
 
What do you guys think?
 
Marc

Sandblasting would give it some roughness to help stick it. Al should be anodized before painting(this is how aircraft parts are done).  Powder coat would be a good option too, but like you say, costly.

Just sandblast it and rattle can it. If you hate it you can strip the paint easy enough..:)

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ORIGINAL: CDiPrecision

Sandblasting would give it some roughness to help stick it. Al should be anodized before painting(this is how aircraft parts are done).  Powder coat would be a good option too, but like you say, costly.

Just sandblast it and rattle can it. If you hate it you can strip the paint easy enough..:)

 
My only problem is I don't have a sandblaster. Could I just rough it up with steel wool or something? Also, the surface won't be smooth after I paint it, right? hmmmmm...

Well, you can just use some 120 grit paper to scuff it up..or some scotchbrite pads.... Depending on the paint, it will fill in the little scuff marks and it will look good. Alum. can be a pain to make durable. 

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ORIGINAL: CDiPrecision

Well, you can just use some 120 grit paper to scuff it up..or some scotchbrite pads.... Depending on the paint, it will fill in the little scuff marks and it will look good. Alum. can be a pain to make durable. 

Ok, cool. Now I just gotta convince Paige to let me do it.

I'm sure the skid plate can be media blasted. It's not as hard on the metal as sandblasting, but just as effective. Then you can either paint it or have it powdercoated.

Hi Short Bus........
 
I have 2 Plates, 1 is Cromed for around town and business and the other one is for Off-Roading...Takes about 5 Mins to change...........Best of both worlds.............
 
Have a Great day.............Rick

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ORIGINAL: Xtreme

I'm sure the skid plate can be media blasted. It's not as hard on the metal as sandblasting, but just as effective. Then you can either paint it or have it powdercoated.

 
All this media blasting and sand blasting is completely over my head.
 
I think we will just take it somewhere that does powder coating and let them prep it and do it. That way if it is screwed up, I can blame them.

I am getting our skid plate powder coated tomorrow!!!! WOOT!

Can it be driven without the skid plate or is that bad?

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ORIGINAL: TigerLily

Can it be driven without the skid plate or is that bad?

 
Not to worry.  You can still drive it. 
 
Just don't go anywhere that you'll need a skid plate